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Canadian News and PoliticsTue, 31 Mar 2015 18:00:20 +0000en-UShourly1Lunney bolts PC caucus amid social conservative disenchantment with Harperhttp://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/when-we-are-not-happy-we-dont-vote-social-conservative-charles-mcvety-tells-the-harper-government/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=when-we-are-not-happy-we-dont-vote-social-conservative-charles-mcvety-tells-the-harper-government
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/when-we-are-not-happy-we-dont-vote-social-conservative-charles-mcvety-tells-the-harper-government/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 17:45:49 +0000http://www.ipolitics.ca/?p=589943Read more »]]>Conservative MP James Lunney has just announced that he is leaving the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent MP so he can more freely express his Christian beliefs.

Lunney said in a statement that he had made a decision to leave the Conservative party so he can speak openly in defence of his beliefs and the concerns of his faith community. “Given the circling trolls, I do not intend to entangle the most multi-racial, multicultural and multi-faith caucus in parliamentary history in my decision to defend my beliefs,” the statement read.

Lunney’s decision comes a week after a coalition of other Christian faith leaders led by right-wing Christian leader Charles McVety was in Ottawa asking the federal government to stand with them and defend their freedom of religion. “I share these concerns. I believe the same is true in the realm of politics at senior levels.” said Lunney in today’s statement.

“A statement from the government in support for religious freedom across the country would be very helpful,” Andre Schutten, a lawyer with the Association for Reformed Political Action who accompanied McVety to Ottawa, told iPolitics.

But the statement never came and even after meeting privately with a number of MPs, including social conservative MP Mark Warawa, McVety says he is not holding his breath. “They are very passionate and supportive but they do doubt how effective they can be.”

Lunney’s announcement, as surprising as it may be, telegraphs what social conservative leaders say is a pre-election disenchantment with the Harper government’s legacy of taking public stands on issues of right-wing values.

McVety says there are many points on his list of grievances, the most recent being the lack of a strong signal from the government that it was on their side on the matter of religious freedom in Canada.

Joseph C. Ben-Ami, former policy aide to Harper and president and CEO of the Meighen Institute, an Ottawa based conservative think-tank, won’t go as far as to say that the government has been hostile to social conservatives, but agrees that “the government has not particularly gone out of its way to implement policies that are friendly to social conservatives either.”

According to journalist Marci McDonald, author of the book The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, McVety’s words shouldn’t be brushed off easily.

She says McVety was instrumental in getting Harper elected back in 2006, touring the country and talking about him to other Christian conservatives. But by 2008, McVety was already “extremely impatient with Harper”, who she says was already appearing to “govern far closer to the centre than they had anticipated when they threw their support behind him.”

“Certain things he did give to social conservatives, but by and large he didn’t bring any large measures and he made no sweeping statements on moral values that seemed to satisfy them” says McDonald.

None of the Christian leaders would confirm this, but McDonald says that an inside movement is growing restless and hoping for a next leader who would be more social conservative after the next election, if Harper doesn’t win another majority.

“The biggest push for this is coming from the social conservatives who see Jason Kenney as their hope, who would take what they call provocative moral stands on issues that are important to them.”

At the heart of the displeasure among social conservatives is the fact that the government has consistently avoided a debate on abortion, or issues of life and personhood status.

“Not allowing for freedom of conscience votes on issues of life is really a strike against the Conservatives,” says McVety.

McVety speaks of motions and bills by a number of Conservative MPs that sought to reignite the abortion debate but were squashed as soon as they were introduced in the House of Commons.

“That particular episode to me was an indication that some people in the government were being, I thought, gratuitously stubborn about not wanting to talk about the abortion issue.” says Ben-Ami, who adds that he was shocked to see how the Conservative government went out of its way to block any kind of motion on the matter.

Bruce Clemenger, president of the more moderate Evangelical Fellowship of Canada says his association is pleased with the government’s recent prostitution legislation and Ottawa’s stand on physician-assisted suicide but, like McVety and Benami, he is also frustrated with a lack of debate on abortion.

“It seems as though whenever the issue surfaces, it is shouted down from various corners and Parliament is the very place where we need to be having those types of debates,” Clemenger told iPolitics.

But as McVety says, it’s the social conservatives who have the potential to make or break the next election for Harper, even though they have no obvious ideological alternative among the three major federal parties.

“When we are not happy, we don’t vote. That’s a fact and the government needs to know ” warns McVety. “So, on October 19th, if the Conservatives want to be successful, they have to give our people a reason to come and support them. They are not going to come automatically.”

]]>http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/when-we-are-not-happy-we-dont-vote-social-conservative-charles-mcvety-tells-the-harper-government/feed/0PBO report: Child care benefits for those who don’t need child care?http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/pbo-report-child-care-benefits-for-those-who-dont-need-child-care/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pbo-report-child-care-benefits-for-those-who-dont-need-child-care
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/pbo-report-child-care-benefits-for-those-who-dont-need-child-care/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 17:22:51 +0000http://www.ipolitics.ca/?p=591443Read more »]]>The Harper government’s enhancements of the Universal Child Care Benefit and Child Care Expense Deduction will have a record fiscal impact of $7.7 billion in 2015-2016, according to new analysis from the parliamentary budget officer.

But the largest beneficiaries from the changes, ironically, will be families with no or very limited child care costs.

Among the changes announced last fall, which will be brought into force with recently-tabled legislation and apply to 2014 tax returns, are increases of the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) from $100 to $160 a month for children under the age of six, and an expansion of it to include a $60 monthly benefit for children between the ages of 6 and 17.

They’ve also increased the Child Care Expense Deduction (CCED) dollar limits by $1,000 — from $7,000 to $8,000 for children under seven; $4,000 to $5,000 for children seven through 16; and $10,000 to $11,000 for children eligible for the Disability Tax Credit.

And counterbalanced the cost of both by eliminating the Child Tax Credit – a fixed-value, nonrefundable tax credit for children under 18.

If the goal, as professed, is to help parents with their child care costs, the CCED is a targeted way to do that, since it can only be claimed for child care expenses.

But unfortunately, for reasons the PBO doesn’t get into, the CCED hasn’t ever been used much.

“Since claimed child care expenses per child eligible for the tax deduction have historically fallen well below the maximum amounts claimable, the fiscal impact of the enhancements to the CCED are relatively small,” they write.

It was $0.6 billion 2004-2005 and is only projected to rise to $1 billion by 2017-2018. Again, because of the low historical claim rate.

The same can’t be said of the UCCB, which the PBO says has an effective uptake rate of 100 per cent.

In other words, essentially all eligible parents are benefitting, and that means the changes are projected to cost the federal government a lot more: from $3.5 billion 2014-2015 to $6.7 billion in 2015-2016.

The problem with the UCCB, however, is that is doesn’t actually have to go to child care, and with the new enhancements the PBO thinks it increasingly won’t.

There a few reasons for that, but the main one is that child care usage rates, according to Statistics Canada, are highest (60 per cent) among families with children aged two to four.

“The lower usage among children under the age of two is partially explained by the availability of employment insurance and parental leave benefits,” the PBO says.

When kids are in school full-time, of course, there is less need. And as they get older, there’s barely any need at all.

By the PBO’s estimates, 34 per cent of families receiving child care benefits are those without child care expenses or those with older children.

But that will increase significantly when the changes are approved in Parliament. In large part, because the the UCCB is being expanded to cover children from 6 to 17.

“Eligible families with lower usage of child care and lower child care expenses (that is, families with older children and families with no child care expenses) will see their share increase from 34 percent in 2013-2014 to 51 per cent in 2015-2016,” the PBO says.

]]>http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/pbo-report-child-care-benefits-for-those-who-dont-need-child-care/feed/0Former PBO Kevin Page, CUPE president blast Conservatives over health-care spendinghttp://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/former-pbo-kevin-page-cupe-president-blast-harper-over-health-care-spending/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=former-pbo-kevin-page-cupe-president-blast-harper-over-health-care-spending
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/former-pbo-kevin-page-cupe-president-blast-harper-over-health-care-spending/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 16:26:48 +0000http://www.ipolitics.ca/?p=591449Read more »]]>Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page and the head of Canada’s largest public-service union declared that health-care spending would be a sticking point against the Conservatives in this year’s federal election.

Speaking Tuesday, Page, who served as PBO from 2008 to 2013, said that the Conservative government “in 2011 reduced (the Canada Health Transfer) effectively from six per cent (as an average of GDP) to something like three or four per cent. It took tens of billions of dollars out of the provinces over the next 10 years without really solving any of the fundamental issues.”

At the press conference with Page was Paul Moist, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

“By the end of (the health accord struck in December 2011) — by 2024 — 13 cents of every health-care dollar will be provided by the federal government,” said Moist. He contrasted this figure with “the late ’60s and early ’70s, (when) 50 cents of every health care dollar” came from the federal government.”

“We can’t have medicare without a strong federal presence.”

Both Page and Moist warned of the political consequences of underfunding health care.

“The health issue is going to be a major issue in the 2015 election,” Page said, adding that “the solution is going to be complicated; it’s going to involve a different type of leadership.”

For his part, Moist said that Canadians are widely unaware of the decline in federal health-care spending, but suggested that it could be a potent political weapon against the government.

“In 2014, CUPE and the Council of Canadians conducted a campaign across Canada,” he said. “We knocked on over 40,000 doors. Over 90 per cent of Canadians did not know about the new health accord (from 2011), (but most) were concerned when they heard about the federal retreat from funding our flagship social program.”

He then announced CUPE’s goal for this year’s election: “Anyone knocking on the door of a Canadian (will be) asked a question: where do you stand on the federal role for medicare?”

]]>http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/former-pbo-kevin-page-cupe-president-blast-harper-over-health-care-spending/feed/1Should Remembrance Day be a stat holiday? Debate continueshttp://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/should-remembrance-day-be-a-stat-holiday-debate-continues/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=should-remembrance-day-be-a-stat-holiday-debate-continues
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/should-remembrance-day-be-a-stat-holiday-debate-continues/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 16:23:45 +0000http://www.ipolitics.ca/?p=591485Read more »]]>NDP MP Dan Harris thought he was making headway with his bill to make Remembrance Day a national statutory holiday—until yesterday.

Harris testified before a House of Commons Heritage committee Monday afternoon to persuade members that his private member’s bill, C-597, should be passed into law.

Despite the fact that the meeting went well, said Harris, Conservative Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Heritage, Rick Dykstra, proposed a 30-day extension to study the bill. Harris said this extension could effectively kill the bill.

“I’m far less encouraged that it’s actually going to get through, it’s pretty discouraging at the 11th hour for that to happen and on the very last question of the day, too,” Harris told iPolitics.

Harris said concerns stem from the prospect of closing businesses in provinces that don’t already observe the holiday. But he says the vast majority of those questions should be brought up at the provincial level.

Remembrance Day is a statutory holiday for federal public servants.

He’s also heard the argument that it may not be wise to take children out of school, to which he said, “While it’s a good argument, you look at the provinces where they [observe] it and what they do.” Nova Scotia was used as an example by Conservative MP Scott Armstrong, who told committee that since the province implemented the Remembrance Day Act, attendance at ceremonies has increased.

Also, if Remembrance Day is a holiday, then veterans could visit schools the school day that falls before November 11th – and attend ceremonies at cenotaphs as well.

“Another issue is reservists – Canadian Forces reservists have regular jobs like everyone else and so if they’re in provinces that don’t observe it, they might not get the day off to commemorate,” said Armstrong.

“Then they end up doing it on the weekend – which has a different meaning,” he said.

Harris said a lot of people like the bill and applaud the effort, but it’s sinking in the process.

“At this point we’re just trying to figure out what the next step is and how to get it back on track,” he said, adding “if that’s even possible.”

Harris said the government brought forward the motion to extend the study by 30 days and it passed with a vote of 5-4, if the committee uses the extension, the committee will report back to the House on June 11th. The House is set to rise for the summer June 23.

The legislation would expand information sharing among government departments in regards to security threats, criminalize the promotion of terrorism and also expand the mandate of Canada’s spy agency, CSIS, to allow it to disrupt threats.

Currently, CSIS is limited to gathering information and must pass that information on to the RCMP before any legal action can take place.

Over about three hours, the committee members ran through amendments seeking to establish a sunset clause on the bill, requiring the Privacy Commissioner to report, review or sign off on information sharing conducted under the bill and requiring government agencies sharing information to have privacy guidelines in place.

All amendments save for one were defeated by the Conservative majority on the committee, with some members of the opposition occassionally also voting against other opposition members’ proposals.

Only one amendment was adopted before the committee was suspended briefly just before noon: the government motion to remove to word “lawful” as a descriptor for the kinds of protests, dissent and advocacy efforts that would be exempt from becoming the subject of information sharing.

The decision to include that qualifier in the section defining what constitutes a security threat to Canada had touched off controversy after the bill was introduced, with First Nations and environmental groups saying it made them vulnerable to increased surveillance.

The section specifically named interference with critical infrastructure as a security threat to Canada that would warrant information sharing and both groups were among the many that raised concerns on that, given the risk road or railway blockades could be considered as such.

The government is proposing a total of four amendments to the bill which will mainly deal with clarifications of terms deemed overly broad.

The NDP planned to introduce amendments to include deradicalization measures to the bill, but unless the motion in the House of Commons to expand the scope of amendments passes, the NDP motions on such changes will be ruled out of order.

The United States, meanwhile, is expected to announce its targets today, the Associated Press reports. The U.S. will commit to cutting some 28 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, sources told the news agency.

Already, the European Union, Mexico and Norway have announced their contributions.

“As this is an international contribution, we are seeking information from the provinces and territories to understand how they intend to meet their targets and how their plans will factor into Canada’s overall commitment,” Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in response.

International

Thanks to an increase in demand for fuel, swelling U.S. storage tanks might not reach capacity. That’s largely thanks to refiners, who are buying up crude in order to capitalize on high profit margins, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, shale oil producers are scaling back production at new wells.

A Dutch research centre is accusing a Vancouver-based mining firm with operations in northern Greece of tax avoidance, the Globe and Mail reports.

The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) said in a report Monday that Eldorado Gold Corp. has in recent years cheated the Greek government of more than CAD$2 million in revenue by transferring money to shell companies in the Netherlands.

Eldorado denies these accusations, but admits to having Dutch companies, which a spokesperson says, aren’t shell companies.

Noteworthy

Just days after the tabling of Alberta’s highly-anticipated 2015-16 budget, an economics professor at Laval University has written an opinion piece, dismantling the argument in favour of an Alberta resource wealth fund, given the “extended horizon” for Canadian oil.

“This increase in income may as well be treated as permanent,” Stephen Gordon writes. “And the theory that recommends saving the proceeds of a temporary windfall also recommends spending the proceeds of a permanent increase in income.”

]]>http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/the-drilldown-gdp-takes-a-hit-from-oil-price-crash/feed/0Iraqi troops retake Tikrit from Islamic Statehttp://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/iraqi-troops-retake-tikrit-from-islamic-state/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=iraqi-troops-retake-tikrit-from-islamic-state
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/iraqi-troops-retake-tikrit-from-islamic-state/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 15:01:47 +0000http://www.ipolitics.ca/?p=591475Read more »]]>Iraqi security forces were preparing to wrest full control of Tikrit from Islamic State after retaking southern and western suburbs on Tuesday and advancing to the city centre, Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said on his official Twitter account.

Iraqi forces backed by Hashd Shaabi, Shiite militias known also as the Popular Mobilization, hoisted the Iraqi flag over presidential palaces. They retook government buildings as well as Rafidain bank, Salahuddin governor Raed Al-Jibouri said by telephone. It would be the first major city to be regained by Iraqi forces and would represent a major blow to Islamic State.

Abadi announced a campaign to take back Tikrit, about 140 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, at the beginning of March. Backed initially by Iran and later U.S. airstrikes, the operation was seen by analysts as the sternest test yet for Iraqi security forces who collapsed in the face of last summer’s advance by Islamic State.

The birthplace of former leader Saddam Hussein, Tikrit lies in Iraq’s Sunni heartland and was once dominated by Hussein’s intelligence services and army officers. When Islamic State consolidated captured the city, it found support in the area among some Sunnis who held deep grievances against Shiite-dominated governments in Baghdad.

]]>http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/iraqi-troops-retake-tikrit-from-islamic-state/feed/0Airstrikes in Syria to begin ‘shortly': DNDhttp://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/airstrikes-in-syria-to-begin-shortly-dnd/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=airstrikes-in-syria-to-begin-shortly-dnd
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/airstrikes-in-syria-to-begin-shortly-dnd/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 13:18:38 +0000http://www.ipolitics.ca/?p=591422Read more »]]>Canadian forces are getting set to launch airstrikes aganist ISIS in Syria “shortly,” the Department of National Defence says.

In an emailed statement to iPolitics, a spokesperson for the department said the Canadian Armed Forces are doing final planning and preparations to “meet the requirements of an expanded and extended mission.”

A vote to expand the mission for one year to include bombing in Syria passed Monday night in the House of Commons by a vote of 142-129.

Ashley Lemire, the DND spokeswoman, said although the the RCAF is preparing to begin soon, the actual timing of the launch of any airstrikes is conditional on coalition priorities and when targets are assigned to Canada.

She says targets, either in Iraq or Syria, are identified and selected in coordination with coalition partners.

Currently only five countries are bombing ISIS in Syria – the United States, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Apart from the U.S. and Canada, no other Western country has agreed to conduct airstrikes in Syria, with those like the U.K, Australia and France citing concerns over the legality of uninvited intervention in a sovereign state.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Canada will conduct its airstrikes in Syria under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which allows for collective self-defence if a member of the U.N. is threatened.

The United States was asked directly by the Iraqi government to extend its bombing mission from Iraq to Syria given ISIS’s strength in areas of that country uncontrolled by President Bashar al-Assad.

Harper has so far refused to say whether Canada was also asked directly by Iraq to expand its mission, saying instead that Canada is following the same justification as the United States.

The Daily WatchYour daily snapshot of what’s happening in Parliament!

Minister Alexander to field questions on ‘barbaric’ cultural practices

Privacy commissioner to discuss terrorist financing

Senate begins review of Red Tape Reduction Act (C-21)

IN THE HOUSE

Government business

Members in the House are expected to resume second reading of the Safe and Accountable Rail Act (C-52), meant to strengthen the liability and compensation regime for federally regulated railway companies.

Bill C-52, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act

C-52 seeks to strengthen the liability and compensation regime for federally regulated railways by requiring minimum insurance levels for federally regulated railway companies and establishing a levy on transporters of crude oil for a disaster fund to cover damages in the case of railway accidents that involve the transport of dangerous goods. Further details on specific amendments proposed to the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act, can be found in the bill summary.

Private members’ business

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s bill to increase parliamentary transparency returns to the House floor Tuesday evening, for its second and final hour of debate at second reading.

Bill C-613, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act and the Access to Information Act (transparency)

According to the bill’s summary, C-613 would amend the Parliament of Canada Act “to require the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons to open its meetings, with certain exceptions, to the public.” and it would also amend the Access to Information Act “to modernize and clarify the purpose of the Act and to give the Information Commissioner the power to make compliance orders.”

IN COMMITTEE

House committees

Veterans affairs committee members will be briefed by senior department officials including MGen Richard Rohmer (Special Advisor to the Minister, Senior Canadian Veteran for the Battle of the Liberation of the Netherlands) on upcoming commemoration initiatives.

Citizenship minister Chris Alexander will be heading to the citizenship and immigration committee to field members’ questions on the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act (Bill S-7).

Testimony is expected at the environment committee from the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, as well as biological sciences professor Mark Boyce regarding licensed hunting and trapping in Canada.

Canada’s privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien is scheduled to appear at the finance committee to provide insight on the study into terrorist financing. He will be joined by various legal and academic experts.

After 2 weeks of witness testimony, the public safety committee has scheduled an extended 4-hour meeting to undertake clause by clause review of the anti-terrorism bill (C-51).

Witnesses from Oxfam Canada, the Micronutrient Initiative, and the Canadian Network for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health have been invited to appear before the foreign affairs committee to provide insight on the study on the protection of children and youth in developing countries.

Status of women committee members are scheduled to meet privately to discuss the report from their study on the promising practices to prevent violence against women.

As they continue their examination of recreational fishing in Canada, fisheries and oceans committee members will hear testimony from Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia and Sport Fishing Advisory Board Chair, Gerald Kristianson.

The human rights situation in Sudan will be the focus of the international human rights committee’s meeting today.

Health committee members continue their work behind closed doors on the draft report relating to the statutory review of the Pest Control Products Act.

Human resources committee members will once again convene to resume their comprehensive examination of the potential of social finance in Canada and will hear from National Association of Friendship Centres, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and the Northern Development Initiative Trust.

Citizenship minister Chris Alexander will make his second appearance of the day before committee today when he head to the official languages meeting this afternoon to field questions on the government’s programs designed to promote Francophone immigration into Canada’s official-language minority communities.

Review of the Pipeline Safety Act (C-46) continues over at the natural resources committee. Representatives from Ecojustice Canada, Canada’s Building Trades Unions and the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association are among those expected to provide insight.

Transport committee members are scheduled to undertake clause by clause review of CPC MP Joyce Bateman’s bill to improve the safety of railroad crossings – Bill C-627, An Act to amend the Railway Safety Act (safety of persons and property).

Senate committees

Representatives from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Tsawwassen First Nation, and the Tsawout First Nation have been invited by senators at the aboriginal peoples committee to provide testimony regarding the challenges relating to First Nations infrastructure on reserves.

Senators at the national finance committee will begin hearings on the Red Tape Reduction Act (Bill C-21) and will have the opportunity to hear from Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board, Dan Albas and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.

Executives representing Northwest Territories Power Corporation and SSi Micro Ltd. will provide testimony before senators at the energy, environment, and natural resources committee on the study of non-renewable and renewable energy development in Canada’s North.

The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance is slated to appear before senators at the fisheries committee to answer questions on the prospects for Canada’s aquaculture industry.

Senators on the agriculture and forestry committee will resume discussion of international market access priorities for the Canadian agricultural and agri-food sector with representatives of the Canadian Organic Trade Association and the Canadian Food Exporters Association.

Bill introductions

Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act (Support for Veterans and Their Families Act) was introduced on March 30.

IN THE DAYS AHEAD

Upcoming debates & votes

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Government Business – second reading of Bill C-42, the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act

Vote– to send Bill C-628, An Act to amend the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 and the National Energy Board Act (oil transportation and pipeline certificate) to the natural resources committee for further review

Committee meetings to watch: minister Shelly Glover expected to field questions on the estimates at heritage committee

Thursday, April 2, 2015

The House will operate on a “Friday” schedule and at the end of the sitting day will adjourn until Monday, April 20.

Government Business – continued second reading on the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act (C-42) is anticipated.

Private members’ business – Bill C-644, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (failure to comply with a condition)(first time debated at second reading). Sponsor: Jim Hillyer (MP for Lethbridge)

Please note that information contained in this publication is subject to daily change based on events in Parliament, including government business, private members’ business and committee business.

]]>http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/daily-watch-barbaric-cultural-practices-and-trudeaus-transparency-bill/feed/0Canada’s gross domestic product fell 0.1 per cent in January: Statistics Canadahttp://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/canadas-gross-domestic-product-fell-0-1-per-cent-in-january-statistics-canada/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=canadas-gross-domestic-product-fell-0-1-per-cent-in-january-statistics-canada
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/31/canadas-gross-domestic-product-fell-0-1-per-cent-in-january-statistics-canada/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 12:50:14 +0000http://www.ipolitics.ca/?p=591416Read more »]]>The Canadian economy took a step back in January, but the 0.1 per cent decline in gross domestic product was a slightly better result than economists had expected.

Economists had estimated the Canadian economy would shrink by 0.2 per cent during the month after rising 0.3 per cent in December, according to Thomson Reuters.

Statistics Canada said Monday that January’s overall production of goods was up 0.3 per cent, helped by an increase in oil and gas extraction, utilities and the agriculture and forestry sector.

The gains were partly offset by a drop in manufacturing and, to a lesser extent, construction.

Meanwhile, the output of Canada’s service industries fell 0.3 per cent in January – the first drop since February 2014.

The federal agency attributed the decline in services to decreases in wholesale and retail trade and – to a lesser extent – in transportation and warehousing services, accommodation and food services.

The drop in gross domestic product in January came amid a steep drop in oil prices that prompted the Bank of Canada to cut its key interest rate as a form of insurance against the expected hit to the economy.

CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld noted the weakness in oil prices will show up in the sector’s capital spending rather than oil production, which is still likely to climb this year.

“Overall, while the first quarter will likely still be no better than one per cent growth, the issue for monetary policy will mostly be about how much of that weakness extends into the subsequent two quarters,” Shenfeld wrote in a note to clients.

In a Financial Times interview published Monday, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz warned the oil-price shock will make the economy’s first-quarter numbers look “atrocious.”